Integrating Gender in Post-Conflict Security Sector Reform

Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) DCAF Policy Paper – №29 Integrating Gender in Post-Confl ict Security Sector Reform Megan Bastick GENEVA CENTRE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF ARMED FORCES (DCAF) POLICY PAPER – №29 Integrating Gender in Post-Confl ict Security Sector Reform Megan Bastick About the Author Megan Bastick is the Gender and Security Fellow in the Special Programmes Department of DCAF. In her former capacity as Deputy Head of Special Programmes, she was instrumental in establishing DCAF’s Gender and Security Sector Reform programme. She co-authored the report “Sexual violence in Armed Confl ict - Global Overview and Implications for the Security Sector” and was responsible for coordination of the Gender and SSR Toolkit. In addition, Megan co-authored DCAF’s Policy Paper 21 on “Security Sector Responses to Traffi cking in Human Beings”. Megan joined DCAF after working in Geneva with the Quaker United Nations Offi ce’s Human Rights and Refugees Programme. Previously, Megan worked in Australia as a lawyer, and as an International Humanitarian Law Offi cer with the Australian Red Cross. Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales (Australia) and a Masters in International Law from the University of Cambridge Copyright © 2008 by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces ISBN 978-92-9222-084-6 DCAF Policy Papers offer a practical, policy-oriented view of Security Sector Governance issues. Policy Papers can be downloaded for free from the DCAF website at www.dcaf.ch/publications. Printed and bound copies can also be purchased. Table of Contents 1. Introduction............................................................................ 1 2. Gender and security sector reform................................................ 2 2.1 Gender and security......................................................... 3 2.2 Gender and (in)security in post-confl ict settings....................... 4 2.3 Principles for integrating gender in security sector reform........... 5 3. Gender mainstreaming and promoting women’s participation in post-confl ict security sector reform............................................... 6 3.1 Gender mainstreaming in security sector reform....................... 6 3.2 The challenge of women’s participation in security sector reform.......................................................................... 7 3.3 Women’s civil society groups in security sector reform................ 9 3.4 Women parliamentarians in security sector reform.................... 11 4. Securing women’s full and equal participation in post-confl ict security situations..................................................................... 12 4.1 The challenge of women’s participation in security services......... 12 4.2 Women’s participation within post-confl ict security services........ 14 5. Gender and specifi c post-confl ict security sector reform issues............ 16 5.1 Integrating gender in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.................................................................. 16 5.2 Integrating gender in transitional justice and justice reform........ 19 6. Conclusions............................................................................. 21 Integrating Gender in Post-Confl ict Security Sector Reform Megan Bastick 1. Introduction1 The importance of security sector reform (SSR) has increasingly been emphasized in international engagement with post-confl ict countries2. In February 2007 the United Nations Security Council stressed that ‘reforming the security sector in post-confl ict environments is critical to the consolidation of peace and stability, promoting poverty reduction, rule of law and good governance, extending legitimate state authority, and preventing countries from relapsing into confl ict3. National governments also identify SSR as a key tool in consolidating their authority and healing divisions of the past. In parallel, many governments and UN and donor agencies have emphasized women’s participation and efforts to achieve gender equality as crucial elements of post-confl ict reconstruction. In 2000 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on ‘Women, peace and security4, highlighting the interdependence of post- confl ict gender equality, peacebuilding and security. Women are acknowledged as playing important roles in peacebuilding and in sustaining security on a communal level. Gender inequality is understood to inhibit development and violence against women to be a pervasive form of insecurity with widespread ill-effects across society. There is also growing awareness of the need to address the particular experiences of men and boys, both as victims and as sources of insecurity. 1 This policy paper is a reprint of a chapter published in the SIPRI Yearbook 2008: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2008). The author is grateful to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) for the permission to reprint the text. The author thanks Alyson J.K. Bailes and, at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces(DCAF), colleagues Alan Bryden, Anja Ebnöther, David Law and Kristin Valasek for their comments on the draft of this chapter. 2 The term ‘security sector reform’ has been in general public use since 1998 when it featured in a speech by Clare Short, then British Secretary of State for International Development; there is, however, no single accepted definition. See Brzoska, M., Development Donors and the Concept of Security Sector Reform, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) Occasional Paper no. 4 (DCAF: Geneva, 2003), p. 3. The Development Aid Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) prefers the term ‘security system reform’. OECD, Security System Reform and Governance, DAC Guidelines and Reference Series (OECD: Paris, 2005), <http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/39/31785288.pdf>, p. 20. Under most accepted definitions and as further explained in this chapter, the term covers a reform and renewal process—with both normative and efficiency goals—covering all state institutions and agencies of defence, security, law and justice and any non-state actors with important roles or influence in these fields. On SSR see also Hendrickson, D. and Karkoszka, A., ‘The challenges of security sector reform’, SIPRI Yearbook 2002: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2002), pp. 175–201; Caparini, M., ‘Security sector reform and NATO and EU enlargement’, SIPRI Yearbook 2003: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2003), pp. 237–60; and Caparini, M., ‘Security sector reform in the Western Balkans, SIPRI Yearbook 2004: Armaments, Dis-armament and International Security (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2004), pp. 251–82. 3 UN Security Council, Statement by the President of the Security Council, UN document S/PRST/2007/3, 21 Feb. 2007. The UN documents cited here are available from <http://documents.un.org/>. 4 UN Security Council Resolution 1325, 31 Oct. 2000. 1 SSR is a process of transformation: sometimes rapid, sometimes gradual and incremental. It brings opportunities-and responsibilities-to create more inclusive and less discriminatory security sector institutions. One relevant issue is ethnic representation within security services: in a multiethnic state security services need to refl ect the composition of society if the population is to have confi dence in them, and if they are to be able to fulfi l their mission5. Equally, for security services to be representative, trusted and effective, they must include women as well as men. SSR strategies that promote the recruitment of women in security services, and ensure that women participate equally in security decision making, contribute to creating an effi cient and legitimate security sector. More broadly, the integration of gender issues into SSR processes increases responsiveness to the security needs and roles of all parts of the community, strengthens local ownership of the reform process and enhances security sector oversight. It is a key condition for achieving successful and sustainable SSR through a legitimate and locally owned process.6 This chapter explores the case and methods for addressing gender issues in post- confl ict SSR processes, drawing upon experiences in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste, and potential models from Serbia and South Africa. Section II further defi nes the concepts of SSR and gender, as well as their relationship to each other. The rationale for and experiences of gender mainstreaming in SSR and promoting the full and equal participation of men and women in SSR processes are discussed in section III, with practical examples from post-confl ict settings. Section IV focuses on promoting women’s participation in post-confl ict security services. Section V examines some challenges for key post- confl ict SSR and SSR-related activities, including gender dimensions in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes, transitional justice and justice reform. Section VI summarizes the case for integrating gender into future SSR programming and policymaking and outlines the key opportunities and challenges. 2. Gender and Security Sector Reform While SSR can be defi ned in broader or narrower terms, there is an emerging consensus on a governance-based approach

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